Ricky Gervais to Tweet from Golden Globes Backstage

You’ve got to give Ricky Gervais credit for taking full advantage of his “controversial” Golden Globes hosting stint from last year. He’s made it a living, breathing topic of conversation long after it should have faded from memory, and parlayed it into a third hosting gig with the awards show. And before the Globes airs this Sunday, Gervais is continuing to ramp up the hype. Now, he says, he’ll be tweeting from backstage during the ceremony.

“I’ll be tweeting from backstage at The Globes so you don’t miss me when I’m not on air. Might even be more fun as I have no TV censorship,” he said on Twitter yesterday. Later, he posted a photo of himself outside a tank, holding a machine gun. “Just finished writing my monologue for The Golden Globes & thought I should up my security….”

Keep in mind that he’ll be backstage way more than he’ll be in front of the cameras at the Globes; the host is only on for tiny snippets of time after the monologue. The smart money is to watch his Twitter feed while watching the show, because there he’ll be able to say whatever the heck he wants.

If you think that Gervais’ shtick about the Globes is getting tired, remember that last year he got into “trouble” for making remarks about the stars in the room that were only mildly edgy. Gervais dared to make more than gentle fun of the people sitting in the ballroom, and that he got flak for it. But not enough flak for NBC or the HFPA to not ask him back, even if they know he’s going to make fun of the process all the way until Sunday.

In this year-long bit of performance art, Gervais is pointing out the absurdity of the importance and reverence people ascribe to Hollywood award ceremonies, especially one as silly as the Globes. With that in mind, we can’t wait to read what he tweets Sunday night.